JP2007076004A - Recovery device for recording head, and inkjet recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a simply and inexpensively constituted recovery device for a recording head, which can prevent the moisture absorption of a wet liquid and prevent the wet liquid from being leaked by a change in the attitude of an inkjet recording apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: A first treated liquid retaining section 32, which communicates via a plurality of channels 33 and 34, is connected to a second treated liquid retaining section 35, and the channels are provided with valve mechanisms 33b and 34b for switching the communication/interception of them, respectively. When the valve mechanisms 33b and 34b are opened, a treated liquid 35a, which is supplied from the section 35, is supplied to the first treated liquid retaining section via the prescribed channel, and instead, air flowing in from a ventilation section 31A of the section 32 is supplied to the first channel via the other channels. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording head recovery device that maintains the ejection performance and print quality of a recording head by wiping the formation surface of an ink ejection port formed in the recording head with a wiper, and an ink jet recording apparatus including the same.

  At present, various recording apparatuses that record images (including characters and symbols) on recording media such as paper, cloth, plastic sheets, and OHP sheets based on recording information are known. For example, there are recording devices having functions such as printers, copiers, and facsimiles, or composite electronic devices including computers and word processors, and recording devices used as output devices such as workstations. Among such recording apparatuses, an ink jet recording apparatus (ink jet recording apparatus) that performs recording by discharging ink from a recording means (recording head) onto a recording medium has the following various advantages. That is, the inkjet recording apparatus can easily make the recording means compact, and can record a high-definition image at high speed. In addition, since the inkjet recording apparatus can perform recording on plain paper without requiring special processing, there is an advantage that the running cost is low and the noise is low because of the non-impact method. Furthermore, the use of various types of ink (for example, color ink) has an advantage that it can easily cope with recording of a color image.

  As an energy generating element that generates energy used to eject ink from the ejection port of the recording head, an electromechanical transducer such as a piezo element is used, and the liquid is heated by an electrothermal transducer having a heating resistor. There are things to do. Furthermore, there are also known devices that generate heat by irradiating electromagnetic waves such as a laser and eject ink droplets by this heat generating action. Among them, an ink jet recording means (recording head) that discharges ink as droplets using thermal energy can perform high-resolution recording because the discharge ports can be arranged at high density. In particular, a recording head using an electrothermal transducer element can fully utilize the advantages of recent semiconductor technology that has made significant progress, highly reliable IC technology, and microfabrication technology. For this reason, it is known as advantageous because it can be easily mounted at high density, has a low manufacturing cost, and can be miniaturized.

  In addition, there are various requirements for the material of the recording medium, and in recent years, development of an ink jet recording apparatus that meets these requirements is also progressing. For example, in addition to normal recording media such as paper (including thin paper and processed paper) and resin thin plates (OHP etc.), an ink jet recording apparatus that can use cloth, leather, non-woven fabric, metal, etc. as the recording medium Is also present and can be applied to a wide range of technologies.

  Such an ink jet recording apparatus is roughly classified into a serial type recording apparatus and a line type recording apparatus. A serial type recording apparatus intermittently conveys a recording medium and ejects ink while moving the recording head in a direction crossing the conveying direction of the recording medium when the recording medium is stopped. Recording). In the line type recording apparatus, a long recording head extending over the entire width of the recording medium to be applied or a range exceeding the recording medium is disposed at a fixed position, and a direction intersecting with the extending direction of the recording head. The image is recorded by continuously conveying the recording medium.

  By the way, in the ink jet recording apparatus, foreign matters such as ink droplets, dust, dust, and paper dust may adhere to the ejection port forming surface of the recording head, and this is a factor that disturbs the ejection direction of the ink ejected from the ink ejection port. It may become. Therefore, in order to remove these foreign substances, cleaning of the discharge port forming surface of the recording head (for example, wiping by rubbing) is performed by a cleaning member.

  Further, the ink near the ejection port of the recording head dries, and the ejection port may become clogged due to ink thickening, fixation, and accumulation. Further, the ejection port may be clogged by bubbles or dust generated in the ink liquid path communicating with the ejection port. As a method for recovering (preventing, eliminating, etc.) these clogs, for example, a suction recovery method for forcibly discharging ink from the ejection port is employed. In this suction recovery method, a capping member is brought into close contact with the ejection port forming surface of the recording head to form a sealed system, and a negative pressure is generated in the capping using a pump, thereby forcibly sucking ink from the ejection port. To do. Further, by performing this suction recovery operation, ink may adhere to the ejection port forming surface, and in order to remove the adhered ink, the ejection port forming surface is cleaned (wiped off) by the above-described cleaning member. Things are also done. As the cleaning member, a thin plate-like wiper made of a flexible member such as a rubber-like elastic material is usually used.

  Conventionally, inks that use water-based dye ink have been mainstream as inks used in ink jet recording apparatuses. However, since dye ink is small in the first place, so-called weather resistance such as light resistance and gas resistance is insufficient, and there is a problem that the color of the recorded matter changes with time. Therefore, in recent years, an aqueous pigment ink has been used instead of the aqueous dye ink. The pigment ink currently used has a pigment particle size of about 100 nm, which is much larger than dye molecules, so even if it is affected by light or ozone, the color material of the pigment ink has less fading, The weather resistance is much better compared to dye inks.

  However, when a recovery operation such as cleaning or suction recovery as described above is performed in a conventional ink jet recording apparatus, the pigment ink is inferior in cleaning property to the dye ink, and the durability of the apparatus is lowered. In other words, the pigment ink has a shorter elapsed time until thickening and fixing than the dye ink, so that the cleaning property when scraping (or wiping) with the cleaning member is inferior to that when the dye ink is used. For this reason, even if the cleaning member is rubbed and cleaned on the head surface of the recording means, ink may be deposited on the head surface in the form of a thin film or the deposited ink may be fixed. In this case, there arises a problem that the recording head cannot be sufficiently recovered by the cleaning operation.

  In general, dye molecules are dispersed (dissolved) in an aqueous solution, but the pigment particles of the pigment ink do not have hydrophilicity and are hydrophobic, and thus do not dissolve in water. For this reason, in order to impart water solubility to the pigment ink, the pigment particles are adsorbed with a resin, an activator, or the like, thereby imparting hydrophilicity as a pigment dispersion to be dispersed in the aqueous solution. In addition, self-dispersion in an aqueous solution is also performed by providing a hydrophilic group at the end of the structure of the pigment particle itself.

  However, in the pigment ink thus made water-soluble, the pigment particles themselves are hydrophobic, so that when the pigment ink is ejected from the recording head as compared with the dye ink, the ejection port forming surface is the pigment ink. It is easy to get wet. In particular, a so-called resin dispersion type pigment ink in which a pigment is dispersed using the above-described resin has a property that the resin is easily wetted together with the pigment particles. Further, when the cleaning member is operated in a state where the pigment particles are present on the discharge port formation surface, damage (scraping) to the discharge port formation surface occurs, which also contributes to the wettability of the face surface. When the discharge port surface gets wet in this manner, the direction of ink discharge becomes unstable, the positional accuracy of ink landing on the recording medium is deteriorated, and the image quality is lowered.

  In order to solve the above problem, if a recording head subjected to so-called water-repellent treatment that repels pigment ink on the discharge port surface of the recording head is used, the directionality of the discharged ink is stabilized in the initial stage. However, when ink that is easily wetted, such as pigment ink, is used, the water repellency gradually deteriorates and the direction of ejection becomes unstable. Also, by performing a wiping operation with a cleaning member performed to maintain the ejection characteristics of the recording head, as a result, pigment ink that is easily wetted is spread on the ejection port surface, so that the water repellency deteriorates, and the image Degradation will occur. For this reason, a recording head in which only the periphery of the discharge port is made hydrophilic from the beginning has been proposed as a head for pigment ink (see Patent Document 1). However, properties such as water repellency or hydrophilicity of the discharge port surface cannot be maintained for a long period of time and deteriorate with time. Even relatively well known UV ozone treatment or the like has hydrophilicity immediately after the treatment, but the degree of hydrophilicity may change (deteriorate) with time.

  A technique called so-called wet wiping is known for such a problem of change in water repellency or hydrophilic performance of the face surface (see Patent Document 2). This is because a wiper (cleaning member) for wiping the face surface is attached with a very volatile solvent (hereinafter referred to as wet liquid) such as glycerin or polyethylene glycol, and the discharge port forming surface is wiped with the wiper. Technology. According to this, a change in wettability of the discharge port forming surface can be reduced. In addition, as the action of the wet liquid, firstly, the action is to dissolve the ink thickened material or the thickened substance accumulated on the discharge port forming surface, and secondly, it is interposed between the wiper and the discharge port forming surface. It acts as a lubricant, and thirdly, there is an action of forming a film for protecting the discharge port forming surface.

Hereinafter, a configuration example of a recording head recovery device including a wet wiping device that has been generally performed will be described.
4 is a schematic front view showing the head recovery device of the ink jet recording apparatus as viewed from the front side, and FIG. 5 is a schematic side view showing the head recovery device of FIG. 4 as viewed from the side.
4 and 5, reference numeral 1A denotes a mat Bk head that discharges a black pigment ink (hereinafter referred to as mat Bk ink) having a high surface tension suitable for plain paper, mat paper, and the like. Reference numeral 1B denotes a color head that is suitable for inkjet glossy paper, photographic paper, and the like, and discharges a so-called penetrating color pigment ink having low surface tension (here, black, cyan, magenta, yellow ink). These inks of the color head 1B often add a resin for fixing the ink on the ink jet recording medium. Hereinafter, these color pigment inks are also referred to as resin pigment inks. Reference numeral 2 denotes a carriage that positions and holds the mat Bk head 1A and the color head 1B. Reference numeral 3 denotes a main scanning rail that guides and holds the carriage 2 in a state where the carriage 2 can reciprocate in the direction of arrow A which is the recording direction.

  Further, 4A is a rubber cap (cap for mat Bk head) that forms (capping) a closed system in the discharge port portion 1Aa of the black head 1A. Reference numeral 4B denotes a rubber cap (cap for color head) that forms (capping) a closed system in the discharge port 1Ba of the color head 1B. These rubber caps 4A and 4B are held by a holder member (not shown) so as to be movable in a capping direction (arrow B direction) and a non-capping direction (arrow C direction) by a drive source (not shown). Both caps constitute a capping means for the pigment ink head.

  4 and 5, cap absorbing members 9A and 9B for absorbing and holding ink are provided inside the rubber caps 4A and 4B, respectively. Further, in order to prevent the ink from thickening and sticking and accumulating in the ejection port portions 1Aa, 1Ba and the liquid passages communicating with the ejection port portions 1Aa, 1Ba, the ejection ports of the respective recording heads are predetermined even when the recording operation is stopped and recording The preliminary ejection is performed on the cap absorbing members 9A and 9B at the time interval. Reference numeral 5A denotes a suction pump (suction means) for the mat Bk head, and reference numeral 5B denotes a suction pump (suction means) for the color head.

  In the above configuration, when suction recovery is performed on the recording heads 1A and 1B, the ejection ports 1Aa and 1Ba including the ejection port and its periphery are first covered with the rubber caps 4A and 4B to form a sealed system. Next, a predetermined suction pressure (negative pressure) is generated in the rubber caps 4A and 4B by the suction pumps 5A and 5B, and the ink in the discharge port and the liquid passage is discharged to the discharge port portion 1Aa through the first tubes 6A and 6B. Forcibly sucking from 1Ba. The ink sucked here is discharged to the waste ink processing member 8 through the second tubes 7A and 7B. Thereafter, a cleaning operation for removing ink adhering to the ejection port formation surface by the suction recovery operation is performed using the wipers 10A and 10B as cleaning members. Here, 10A is a wiper for a mat Bk head, and 10B is a wiper for a color head. These wipers are formed of a rubber member such as urethane, butyl, or silicon, or a porous sponge material.

The wipers 10A and 10B are movable in the directions of arrows D and E in FIG. As the cleaning members 10A and 10B move in the direction of the arrow D, the wiper 10A and 10B have (i) → (b) → (c (indicated by broken lines) on the discharge port forming surface including the discharge port portions 1Aa and 1Ba. )) In this order, and the discharge port forming surface is cleaned (wipe clean). When the wipers 10A and 10B further move in the direction of arrow D after the cleaning is completed, the wipers 10A and 10B come into contact with the wiper cleaning members 11A and 11B (indicated by (d) broken lines). Due to this contact, foreign matters such as ink droplets, dust, dust, and paper dust that have been scraped from the discharge port forming surface and attached to the cleaning members 10A and 10B are transferred to the corresponding cleaners 11A and 11B (wiped off). Collected).
At this time, the caps 4A and 4B of the capping means are moved (retracted) in the direction of arrow C by a drive source (not shown), and are retracted to a position (not shown) that does not interfere with the wipers 10A and 10B of the cleaning means.

  The wet liquid supply unit 20 for wet wiping is provided in the vicinity of the wiper folding position on the right side in the drawing with respect to the wipers 11A and 11B. In the wet liquid supply unit 20, reference numeral 21 denotes a wet liquid holding unit, which holds the wet liquid with a holding member such as an absorbent body made of fibers. Reference numeral 22 denotes a contact member that applies wet liquid to the wiper when the wipers 10 </ b> A and 10 </ b> B come into contact, and is in contact with the bottom surface portion and the side surface portion of the wet liquid holding portion 21. Since the contact member 22 is composed of a member having a capillary force stronger than the capillary force of the wet liquid holding unit 21, the wet liquid contained in the wet liquid holding unit 21 is reliably supplied to the contact member 22. Is done. The wiper is cleaned by the wiper cleaning members 11A and 11B from the left side in the drawing, and then passes through the wiper to reach the wet wiping unit. That is, the following operations are performed: (b) → (b) → (c) → (d) → (e) → (f). The wipers 10A and 10B reciprocate left and right, but the wipers 10A and 10B come into contact with the contact member 22 at the contact portion 22a as shown in FIG. Then, the wet liquid adheres at the contact portion 22a according to a predetermined nip width. Hereinafter, the movement of the wet liquid from the contact portion 22a to the wipers 10A and 10B, that is, the supply to the wiper is also referred to as “transfer of the wet liquid”. As described above, by repeating the operations (a) to (f), the state of the face surface is maintained well.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-334074 JP-A-10-138502

However, the ink jet recording apparatus equipped with wet wiping as described above has the following problems.
(1) Problems with Countermeasures against Wet Liquid Leakage Depending on the Printer Position In the above conventional technique, the wet liquid holding portion 21 in FIG. 5 is filled with a treatment liquid holding member such as an absorbent made of fiber, and the wet liquid is filled in this processing liquid holding member. Is impregnated and held. This is to prevent the wet liquid from leaking due to the inclination of the posture when the recording apparatus is used or the recording apparatus is transported. However, in a product aimed at high durability and long-term use, since it is necessary to hold a large amount of wet liquid, it is necessary to increase the capacity of the holding member, and there is a problem that cost increases due to the holding member.
(2) Problems due to moisture absorption / expansion of wet liquid Glycerin used as a wet liquid material has the effect of absorbing a large amount of moisture in a high humidity environment. Under 85% environment, it absorbs about 4 times its own weight. For this reason, when the wet liquid holding part 21 in FIG. 5 is not sealed, if the wet liquid holding part 21 does not have a volume several times larger than the wet liquid to be mounted, the wet liquid is absorbed by the moisture absorption action due to environmental changes. Will overflow. Therefore, in a product aimed at high durability and long-term use, in addition to the weight of the wet liquid to be mounted, the volume of the wet liquid holding unit 20 and the volume of the internal absorbent body taking into account the expansion due to moisture absorption are also extremely large. Become. For this reason, the problem of enlargement of an inkjet recording device arises. Further, as described above, there is a problem that the cost increases due to an increase in the size of the absorber that is the treatment liquid holding member.

  In order to avoid this problem, it has been considered to seal the wet liquid holding part 20 and the contact part 21a. However, if the wet liquid holding part 20 is kept sealed, it becomes difficult to move the wet liquid from the wet liquid holding part 20 to the contact part 21a. Moreover, in order to seal the contact part 21a, the structure is complicated, There also arises a problem of increasing the cost.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to the above-described problems of the prior art, and has a simple and inexpensive configuration and can prevent the wet liquid from leaking due to the moisture absorption of the wet liquid and the attitude change of the inkjet recording apparatus. An object of the present invention is to provide a recovery device and an ink jet recording apparatus.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following configuration.
That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a wiper that wipes an ejection port forming surface on which an ink ejection port of a recording head is formed, and a processing liquid that improves the wiping effect of the ejection port forming surface are supplied to the wiper. A recovery device for a recording head that wipes the ejection port formation surface with a wiper to which the processing liquid is supplied by the processing liquid supply mechanism, wherein the processing liquid supply mechanism includes the processing liquid supply mechanism. A first processing liquid holding unit having a ventilation part that holds the liquid and allows ventilation to the outside, and a processing liquid that transfers the processing liquid held in the first processing liquid holding part to the wiper A supply member, a second processing liquid holding unit that holds the processing liquid and communicates with the first processing liquid holding unit via a plurality of flow paths, the second processing liquid holding unit, and the Communication with the first treatment liquid holding unit; A switchable sectional selectively, at the time of shut-off and having a a valve mechanism to keep the second processing solution holding portion in a closed state.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, a wiper that wipes a discharge port forming surface of a recording head that discharges ink from an ink discharge port and a treatment liquid that improves the wiping effect of the discharge port forming surface are supplied to the wiper. A processing liquid supply mechanism for performing recording by discharging ink from the ink discharge port to a recording medium, and forming the discharge port forming surface with a wiper to which the processing liquid is supplied by the processing liquid supply mechanism. In the ink jet recording apparatus for wiping, the processing liquid supply mechanism holds a processing liquid supplied to the processing liquid transfer unit, and has a first processing liquid holding unit having a predetermined ventilation part, and the processing liquid holding A processing liquid supply member that supplies the processing liquid held in the unit to the wiper, and a second process that holds the processing liquid and communicates with the first processing liquid holding unit via a plurality of channels. Liquid retention And a valve that can selectively switch between communication and blocking between the second processing liquid holding unit and the first processing liquid holding unit, and keeps the second processing liquid holding unit in a sealed state at the time of blocking. And a mechanism.

  In the present invention, since the processing liquid is supplied from the sealable second processing liquid holding unit to the first processing liquid holding unit, it is possible to reduce the wet liquid leakage and the wet liquid leakage due to the change in the orientation of the recording apparatus. It becomes possible to do. In addition, since the ink can be stored in the second treatment liquid without using an absorber or the like, it can be configured at low cost and a large volume of ink can be stored. For this reason, the discharge port forming surface of the recording head can be wiped by the wiper appropriately supplied with the wet liquid, and the discharge port forming surface can be maintained in an appropriate state for a long time.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
Hereinafter, [1] an outline description of the ink jet recording apparatus, [2] an outline of the recovery apparatus, [3] an outline of the recording head, and [4] a detailed configuration and operation of the wet liquid supply mechanism in the present invention will be sequentially described.

[1] Schematic Description of Main Body FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing an overall configuration of an ink jet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The ink jet recording apparatus shown here performs so-called serial ink jet recording in which the recording medium is intermittently transported and recording is performed by ejecting ink while moving the recording head in the main scanning direction when the recording medium is stopped. It is a device.

  In FIG. 1, a recording medium 30 such as a recording sheet is fed into the apparatus main body by a paper feed roller 31, and is sandwiched by a pinch roller (not shown) and a pressing plate 13 on the transport roller 12. Then, by intermittently rotating the transport roller 12 by a predetermined amount, a position (recording) with a predetermined gap from the surface (discharge port forming surface) where the ink discharge ports of the mat Bk head 1A and the color head 1B are formed. The recording medium is conveyed through (position). When the conveyance operation of the recording medium is stopped, the carriage 2 is moved in the main scanning direction (X direction) along the main scanning rail 3, and the main recording head 1 mounted on the carriage 2 is moved to the recording data during that time. In this way, ink is ejected and recording is performed. By repeating this recording medium conveyance operation and the recording operation by the recording head, an image (including characters, graphics, etc.) is recorded on the entire recording medium. Note that the home position HP of the carriage 2 is set at a position (a right end portion in the drawing) that is within the moving range of the carriage 2 and is out of the area (recording area) for recording on the recording medium. A temperature sensor 17 is provided in the vicinity of the home position HP.

[2] Overview of Recovery Device In the vicinity of the home position HP, a recording head recovery device is provided for maintaining the ejection performance of each recording head such as the mat Bk head 1A and the color head 1B. This recording head recovery device has a suction recovery mechanism that performs a suction recovery operation on each recording head, and a cleaning mechanism that removes ink adhering to the ejection port forming surface of each recording head with a wiper.
Among these, the suction recovery mechanism has the same configuration as that of the conventional suction recovery device shown in FIGS. That is, the suction recovery mechanism is provided with capping means having caps 4A and 4B made of rubber-like elastic material that can be in close contact with the discharge port forming surfaces of the mat Bk head 1A and the color head 1B and seal the discharge ports. ing. Further, the suction recovery mechanism is connected to the caps 4A and 4B, suction pumps 5A and 5B connected to the caps 4A and 4B via tubes 6A and 6B, and a second tube connected thereto. A waste ink processing member 8 is provided. During the suction recovery operation, negative pressure is generated in the caps 4A and 4B by the pumps 5A and 5B in a state where the caps 4A and 4B are in close contact with the ejection port forming surfaces of the recording heads (capped state). By this negative pressure, foreign matter such as ink, thickened ink, bubbles, fixed ink and dust adhering to the ejection port is sucked out and discharged to the waste ink processing member 8. This suction recovery operation takes into consideration the necessity immediately before the start of recording, every predetermined recording time or recording operation during recording, or when it is detected that a head recovery operation is required. Executed.

  Further, the cleaning mechanism is provided with a wiper mechanism for scraping (wiping off) foreign matters such as ink and dust adhering to the ejection port forming surfaces of the mat Bk head 1A and the color head 1B. The wiper mechanism includes wipers 10A and 10B that can be slidably contacted with each recording head, and a moving unit (not shown) that moves the wiper in a direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction. This wiper mechanism also has a configuration similar to that of the above prior art. However, the cleaning mechanism in the present embodiment includes a wet liquid supply mechanism (processing liquid supply mechanism) that supplies the wiper 10A, 10B with a wet liquid (processing liquid) for reducing the change in wettability of the discharge port forming surface. Different from the conventional one. The wet liquid supply mechanism will be described in detail later.

[3] Outline of recording head The mat Bk head 1A and the color head 1B as the recording means 1 are ink jet recording heads that eject ink using thermal energy, and are electrically heated to generate thermal energy. A conversion body is provided. That is, the recording means 1 causes film boiling in the ink by the thermal energy applied by the electrothermal transducer, and ejects ink from the ejection port by utilizing the pressure change due to bubble growth and contraction that occurs at that time. And recording is performed.

[4] Detailed Configuration and Operation of Wet Liquid Supply Mechanism FIG. 5 is a longitudinal side view showing a wet liquid supply mechanism having a configuration unique to the present embodiment. The wet liquid supply mechanism 30 shown here is set on the right side of the wiper cleaning members 11A and 11B in FIG. More specifically, the wet liquid supply mechanism 30 is provided in the vicinity of a position where the reciprocating movement of the wiper is switched (folding position). Reference numeral 20 denotes a wet liquid holding section. The wet liquid holding section 20 includes a first processing liquid holding section 32 having a relatively small capacity, a second processing liquid holding section 35 having a relatively large capacity, A wet liquid flow path 33 and an air flow path 34 for communicating the processing liquid holding portions 32 and 35 are configured.

  The first processing liquid holding part 32 has an outer shell composed of a container-like main body part 32M and a lid part 32L that closes the upper part of the main body part 32M. A notch 32M1 is formed. Further, wet liquid transmission members (processing liquid supply members) 31A and 31B, a liquid storage part absorber 32a, and a leakage prevention absorber 32b are accommodated in the first processing liquid holding part 32. And the liquid storage part 32c in which a wet liquid is stored is formed in the side wall by the side of the back of the liquid storage part absorber 32a and the main-body part 32M. The liquid storage part absorbent body 32a and the leakage prevention absorbent body 32b are made of a polypropylene fiber sponge (hereinafter referred to as PP sponge), and the liquid storage part absorbent body 32a is fixed to the bottom of the main body part 32M, The leakage preventing absorber 32b is fixed to the inner surface of the lid portion 32L. In the PP sponge, the fiber diameter of the polypropylene fiber, the apparent density when the fiber is spongy, the orientation direction of the fiber in the sponge, the compressibility when the sponge is incorporated in the apparatus, and the like may be appropriately selected.

  Further, the wet liquid transmission members 31A and 31B are disposed so that the liquid storage part absorber 32a of the main body part 32M contacts the lower part and the upper part covers the notch part 32M. The liquid reservoir absorber 32a exposed from the notch 32M can be in contact with the wiper 31A, and 31a indicates a contact portion with the wiper 31A. The wet liquid transmission members 31A and 31B are formed of a porous body having air permeability, and absorb the wet liquid impregnated in the fiber liquid storage portion absorber 32a by the capillary force and contact the contact portion 31a. It is supplied to the wiper that comes into contact. In order to ensure the absorption of the wet liquid from the PP sponge, the wet liquid transmission members 31A and 31B need to have a capillary force higher than the capillary force of the liquid storage part absorber 32a. . Therefore, the average pore diameter, the apparent density, etc. of the transmission member of the liquid reservoir absorber 32a may be appropriately selected so that the above-described capillary force relationship is maintained. In this embodiment, Asahi Kasei Sun Fine AQ900 (Sun Fine AQ900 is a trade name of Asahi Kasei Corporation) is used as the transmission member 31.

  Further, on the rear side wall of the liquid storage part 32c, a cylindrical air flow path coupling part 34a connected to the air flow path 34 and a cylindrical wet flow path connected to the wet liquid flow path coupling part 33a A coupling portion 33a is formed. The height from the bottom of the liquid reservoir 32c to the opening of the air flow path coupling portion 34a is set to the level of the wet liquid level to be maintained in the liquid reservoir 32c. The wet liquid flow path coupling portion 33a is set below the air flow path coupling portion 34a.

  On the other hand, the second processing liquid holding unit 35 has a hollow box shape and is held above the first processing liquid holding unit 30. A wet liquid communication port 35b and an air communication pipe 35c are formed at the bottom of the second processing liquid holding unit 35, and both can communicate with the outside. The upper end portion of the air communication pipe 35 c is located above the liquid level that can be stored in the second processing liquid holding part 35. The second treatment liquid holding unit 35 is blocked from communicating with the outside at portions other than the wet liquid communication port 35 and the air communication pipe 35c.

  Since the wet liquid communication port 35c of the second treatment liquid holding unit 35 is covered with the wet liquid transmission members 31A and 31B, the first treatment is performed via the wet liquid flow path valve 33b and the wet liquid flow path 33. The liquid holding part 30 is connected to the wet liquid flow path coupling part 33a. Further, the lower end portion of the air communication pipe 35 c of the second processing liquid holding unit 35 is connected to the wet liquid flow path coupling part 34 a of the first processing liquid holding unit 30 via the air flow path valve 34 b and the air flow path 34. It is connected. Each flow path valve 33b, 34b can be opened and closed by a control unit and a valve drive mechanism (not shown) in the recording apparatus. When both the flow path valves 33b and 34b are in the closed state shown in FIG. 3, the communication between the second processing liquid holding unit 35 and the first processing liquid holding unit 30 is blocked. Thereby, the 2nd process liquid holding part 35 will be in the state sealed.

Next, the operation of the wet liquid holding unit 30 will be described in detail.
First, as shown in FIG. 2, normally, the wet liquid flow path valve 33b and the air flow path valve 34b are in a closed state, and the wet liquid 35a held in the second treatment liquid holding section 35 is outside air. The wet liquid 35a does not absorb moisture and does not expand. For this reason, it is not necessary to set the volume of the 2nd process liquid holding part 35 large considering the hygroscopic expansion part of a process liquid. That is, the volume of the second treatment liquid holding unit 35 may be set assuming the volume of the wet liquid 35a that satisfies the durability count. For this reason, this recovery device is advantageous in reducing the size of the recording device. Further, since the inside of the second treatment liquid holding part 35 is sealed by the wet liquid flow path valve 33b and the air flow path valve 34b, it is not necessary to store a holding member such as an absorber. For this reason, an absorber can be reduced and the merit of cost side can also be expected. Further, since the holding member is not housed, the storage rate of the processing liquid in the second processing liquid holding unit 35 (ratio between the volume of the second processing liquid holding unit 35 and the processing liquid storable amount) can be increased. . In the first treatment liquid holding part 32, at least the wet liquid transmission members 31A and 31B have air permeability, and do not have a sealed structure. For this reason, the stored wet liquid absorbs moisture, which will be described in detail later.

  By the way, in order to stabilize the wiping effect of the face surface by the wiper, it is necessary to stabilize the amount of wet liquid transferred to the wiper. This is realized by stabilizing the wetness of the contact portion 31a by the wet liquid. However, in the conventional general recovery device as shown in FIG. 5, the wet liquid level of the wet liquid supply unit 30 is lowered with the consumption of the wet liquid, and the water head difference between the contact portion 31a and the wet liquid is reduced. The wetness of the contact part 31a changes. This causes a problem that the amount of wet liquid transferred to the wiper is not stable. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the transfer of the wet liquid to the wipers 10A and 10B is stabilized from the first treatment liquid holding unit 30 to the contact part 31a of the wet liquid transmission members 31A and 31B by the following operation. Can be done. Hereinafter, this point will be described in detail.

  As shown in FIG. 3, when the wet liquid flow path valve 33 b and the air flow path valve 34 b are opened by a mechanism (not shown), the second processing liquid holding part 35 is transferred to the liquid storage part 32 c of the first processing liquid holding part 32. The internal wet liquid 35 a flows in through the wet liquid flow path 33. As a result, air having the same volume as the inflowing wet liquid 35 a flows into the second processing liquid holding part 35 from the air flow path 34. When the liquid level of the wet liquid supplied into the liquid storage part 32c rises and reaches a liquid level that closes the opening of the air flow path coupling part 34a as shown in FIG. 2, the air becomes the second treatment liquid holding part 35. It will not flow into the interior. For this reason, the inflow of the wet liquid 35a into the liquid storage part 32c stops, and the liquid level rise of the liquid storage part 32c stops.

  The wet liquid 35a in the liquid storage part 32c is absorbed by the PP sponge as the liquid storage part absorber 32a, and is supplied to the wipers 10A and 10B through the transmission members 31A and 31B. When the wiping operation is repeated, the wet liquid 35a is supplied to the wipers 10A and 10B each time, so that the liquid level in the liquid storage section 32c is lowered. When the wet liquid passage valve 33b and the air passage valve 34b are opened, the liquid level of the liquid storage portion 32c rises as described above, and the rise stops at the water level that blocks the air flow passage coupling portion 34a. As a result, the water level of the liquid storage part 32c is kept substantially constant, and the water head difference between the contact part 31a and the liquid storage part 32c becomes substantially constant. This stabilizes the amount of wet liquid transferred to the wipers 10A and 10B and stabilizes the wetness of the contact portion 31a with the wet liquid. Therefore, the wipers 10A and 10B can always obtain a good wiping effect. it can.

  The opening and closing timings of the air flow path valve 34b and the wet liquid flow path valve 33b are appropriately set within the range in which the supply state of the wet liquid from the liquid storage portion 32c to the wet liquid transmission members 31A and 31B is properly maintained. It can be set. That is, since the liquid level of the wet liquid to be stored in the liquid storage part 32c has a certain width, the valves 34b and 33b are closed until the liquid level reaches a predetermined liquid level of this width. It is also possible to open each valve when the predetermined liquid level is reached. In this case, the number of wiping operations from the upper limit of the appropriate liquid level range of the liquid storage section 32c to the predetermined liquid level is experimentally measured in advance, and each valve is opened and closed according to the measurement result. do it. For example, each valve may be opened to reach a predetermined liquid level after 100 wiping operations. In addition, as described above, if the water level of the liquid storage part 32c is maintained at a level that closes the air flow path coupling part 34a, the wet liquid 35a is not supplied to the liquid storage part 32c. Good.

Next, the volume of the wet liquid in the wet liquid supply mechanism, that is, the volume of the first processing liquid holding unit 32 and the second processing liquid holding unit 35 will be described. The amount of wet liquid to be mounted on this wet liquid supply mechanism is set so as to satisfy the following conditions.
First, even when wet wiping equivalent to the durable number of ink jet recording apparatuses is performed, the water-repellent state of the ejection port forming surface is properly maintained, and the ink droplet landing position accuracy is maintained within an allowable range. Then, the transfer amount of the wet liquid for one time to the wiper 31a is obtained. This is obtained experimentally in advance. Then, the transfer amount to the wiper for one time is multiplied by the number of wipings corresponding to the durable number, and this amount is set as the amount of wet liquid to be mounted in the wet liquid supply mechanism. For example, after 1 mg of the wet liquid 35a is transferred to the wiper in one wet wipe, the ejection opening forming surface of the recording head is wet wiped with the wiper, and the target durable number of 30,000 is wiped without any problem. Suppose you can. In this case, the amount of the wet liquid 35a required between the durable sheets is 30 g. Therefore, the second treatment liquid holding unit 35 needs a volume capable of mounting 30 g of the wet liquid 35a.

  On the other hand, since the wet liquid 35a is supplied from the second processing liquid holding part 35 to the first processing liquid holding part 32, the volume of the first processing liquid holding part 32 is wiping a certain number of times. What is necessary is just to set so that the amount of wet liquids required for the can be held. For example, as described above, if the amount of wet liquid necessary for one wiping is 1 mg, the amount is 1 g even for 1000 times. If the volume of the first processing liquid holding unit 32 is set so as to hold this amount of liquid, Good. For this reason, the volume of the liquid storage part absorber 32a, the leakage prevention absorber 32b, and the liquid storage part 32c inside the 1st process liquid holding | maintenance part 32 can be made very small, and it becomes low by downsizing an absorber. There is an advantage that it can be configured at a cost. Further, since the amount of the wet liquid 35a inside the first treatment liquid holding unit 32 is very small, even if it absorbs and expands, the amount of expansion is small. Therefore, if this slight expansion is added to the first treatment liquid holding part 32 to give a sufficient capacity, the liquid will not leak. In addition, such a slight increase in volume hardly affects the size and shape of the ink jet recording apparatus.

Next, leakage countermeasures when the inkjet recording apparatus is tilted will be described.
When the entire inkjet recording apparatus is tilted, the second treatment liquid holding unit 35 is tilted accordingly. However, normally, the wet liquid does not leak from the second processing liquid holding unit 35 because the wet liquid flow path valve 33b and the air flow path valve 34b are closed. On the other hand, in the first treatment liquid holding unit 32, there are wet liquid held in the liquid storage part absorber 32a and the wet liquid transmission members 31A and 31B, and wet liquid in the liquid storage part 32c. Among these, the liquid held in the liquid storage part absorber 32a or the like does not leak to the outside due to its capillary force or the like, but the wet liquid in the liquid storage part 32c is relatively free to move. However, as described above, the amount of liquid stored in the first treatment liquid holding unit 33 is very small overall, and the wet liquid in the liquid storage unit 32c is a part of the liquid. Therefore, the amount is extremely small. For this reason, when the ink jet recording apparatus is tilted, the wet liquid in the liquid storage portion 32c is almost absorbed by touching the leakage preventing absorber 32b and the transmission member, and therefore does not leak to the outside.

  Even when the internal pressure of the second treatment liquid holding unit 35 increases due to a temperature rise or when the external pressure decreases due to a rise in altitude, the wet liquid flow path valve 33b and the air flow path valve 34b are basically closed. It will not leak. Even if the wet liquid flow path valve 33b and the air flow path valve 34b are opened, the air communication port 35c protrudes above the liquid surface of the wet liquid 35a. The internal pressure immediately balances with the external pressure, and the wet liquid 35a does not leak all.

In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, It can change suitably in the range described in the claim. For example, the materials such as the wet liquid, the wet liquid holding portion and the transmission member, and the water repellency / non-water repellency / hydrophilicity of the discharge port forming surface can be appropriately changed. Further, the ink surface tension, which is an index of ink wettability, the contact angle of the ink with respect to the face, and the like can be changed, and can be modified into various forms. Further, in the present specification, the case of using a pigment ink is cited as an example of the ink used in the ink jet recording apparatus. However, the present invention can also be applied to the case where a dye ink is used. It is effective in maintaining a proper state.
Moreover, in the said embodiment, the case where the ventilation part of the 1st process liquid holding | maintenance part 30 was formed by the wet liquid transmission members 31A and 31B formed of the porous body was shown. However, the ventilation part of the first treatment liquid holding part can be formed at a place other than the wet liquid transmission member. For example, it is also possible to form a slight gap between the lid portion 32L and the main body portion, or to form a through hole in the lid portion 32L and cover it with the leakage preventing absorber 32b. . Moreover, while forming a through-hole in places other than these, you may make it block | close the said through-hole with the member which interrupts | blocks the distribution | circulation of a liquid and enables passage of gas.

  Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the serial type ink jet recording apparatus has been described as an example. However, the present invention can also be applied to a line type ink jet recording apparatus having a function of wiping the discharge port forming surface of the recording head with a wiper. Therefore, the same effect can be expected.

1 is a perspective view schematically showing an overall configuration of an ink jet recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a longitudinal side view conceptually showing a state in which each valve of the wet liquid supply mechanism of the recording head recovery apparatus in the embodiment of the present invention is closed. FIG. 5 is a longitudinal side view conceptually showing a state in which each valve of the wet liquid supply mechanism of the recording head recovery apparatus in the embodiment of the present invention is open. It is a typical front view which shows the recording head recovery apparatus in the conventional inkjet recording device seeing from the front direction. FIG. 5 is a schematic side view showing the recording head recovery device of FIG. 4 as viewed from the side.

Explanation of symbols

1A mat Bk head 1B color head 2 carriage 4A cap for mat Bk head (capping means)
4B Color head cap (capping means)
5A, 5B Suction means (suction pump)
9A, 9B Ink absorbing member 10A Cleaning member (cleaning means) for mat Bk head
10B Color head cleaning member (cleaning means)
11A, 11B Cleaner 12 Transport roller 1Aa, 1Ba Discharge port (discharge port)
20 Wet liquid holding part 31 Wet liquid transmission member 31a Contact part 32 First treatment liquid holding part 32a Liquid storage part absorber 32b Leakage prevention absorber 32c Liquid storage part 33 Wet liquid flow path 33a Wet liquid flow path coupling part 33b Wet liquid flow path valve 34 Air flow path 34a Air flow path coupling part 34b Air flow path valve 35 First treatment liquid holding part 35a Wet liquid 35b Wet liquid communication port 35c Air communication pipe 30 Recording medium

Claims (8)

A wiper for wiping the discharge port forming surface on which the ink discharge port of the recording head is formed, and a processing liquid supply mechanism for supplying a processing liquid for improving the wiping effect of the discharge port forming surface to the wiper. A recording head recovery device for wiping the discharge port forming surface with a wiper supplied with the processing liquid by a liquid supply mechanism,
The treatment liquid supply mechanism is
A first treatment liquid holding unit having a ventilation part for holding the treatment liquid and allowing ventilation to the outside;
A processing liquid supply member for transferring the processing liquid held in the first processing liquid holding section to the wiper;
A second processing liquid holding unit that holds the processing liquid and communicates with the first processing liquid holding unit via a plurality of flow paths;
A valve mechanism capable of selectively switching between communication and blocking between the second processing liquid holding unit and the first processing liquid holding unit, and maintaining the second processing liquid holding unit in a sealed state at the time of blocking; And a recording head recovery device.   The second processing liquid holding unit is disposed above the first processing liquid holding unit, and the first processing liquid holding from the second processing liquid holding unit due to a water head difference between the two processing liquid holding units. The recording head recovery device according to claim 1, wherein the holding liquid is supplied to the recording unit.   At least one of the plurality of flow paths that connect the first processing liquid holding section and the second processing liquid holding section is connected to the first processing liquid from the second processing liquid holding section. A processing liquid flow path for supplying the holding liquid to the holding section, and at least one other flow path is an air flow for introducing the air in the first processing liquid holding section to the second processing liquid holding section. And a connection port with the air flow path formed in the first processing liquid holding part is substantially the same height as the liquid level of the processing liquid to be held in the first processing liquid holding part. The recording head recovery device according to claim 1, wherein the recording head recovery device is formed at a vertical position.   4. The recording head according to claim 3, wherein one end of the air flow path communicates above an upper limit of a liquid level of the processing liquid supplied into the second processing liquid holding unit. Recovery device.   The wiper is provided so as to be movable between a wiping position for wiping the ejection port forming surface of the recording head and a contact position for contacting the processing liquid supply member, and by contact with the processing liquid supply member 5. The recording head recovery apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a processing liquid is supplied.   The processing liquid supply member is formed of a porous body that sucks the processing liquid held in the first processing liquid holding part by capillary force, and a part thereof forms a contact part that contacts the wiper. 6. A recording head recovery device according to claim 1, wherein the recording head recovery device is a recording head recovery device.   The recording head according to claim 6, wherein the contact portion forms a part of an outer wall portion of the first processing liquid holding portion and functions as the ventilation portion in the first holding member. Recovery device. A wiper that wipes a discharge port forming surface of a recording head that discharges ink from the ink discharge port, and a processing liquid supply mechanism that supplies the wiper with a processing liquid that improves the wiping effect of the discharge port forming surface. An inkjet recording apparatus that performs recording by ejecting ink from an ink ejection port to a recording medium, and wipes the ejection port forming surface with a wiper to which the processing liquid is supplied by the processing liquid supply mechanism,
The treatment liquid supply mechanism is
Holding a processing liquid to be supplied to the processing liquid transfer section, and a first processing liquid holding section having a predetermined ventilation section;
A treatment liquid supply member for supplying the treatment liquid held in the treatment liquid holding unit to the wiper;
A second processing liquid holding unit that holds the processing liquid and communicates with the first processing liquid holding unit via a plurality of flow paths;
A valve mechanism capable of selectively switching between communication and blocking between the second processing liquid holding unit and the first processing liquid holding unit, and maintaining the second processing liquid holding unit in a sealed state at the time of blocking; And an ink jet recording apparatus.

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